Dead Promises
by Alexannah
Summary: CH3 UP! When Hermione got held back in Potions one day she had no idea it would lead to an illicit and dangerous romance, with serious consequences. Follows HBP SSHG RWHG ADMM
1. Break of Dawn

**Summary:** When Hermione got held back in Potions one day she had no idea it would lead to an illicit and dangerous romance, with serious consequences. Follows HBP SSHG RWHG ADMM

**Rating:** T (PG-13)

**Warnings:** Teacher/Student pairing

**Disclaimer:** Hermione Granger and Severus Snape do not belong to me. Nor do any of the others.

-----

**Dead Promises**

By Alexannah

**Chapter One: Break of Dawn  
**  
_The break of dawn kills all the beauty  
The dead of night is drifting away  
Should I stay and welcome the day  
Or should I follow the one  
And hide from the sun  
__**- The Rasmus**_

It had been a bad day for Hermione.

Harry was gloomy and snappy, the result of a detention with Umbridge the night before. Hermione had overslept, run late for Transfiguration, lost five points from Gryffindor and remembered she'd left her Charms essay unfinished, losing another five points. She was in a bad mood as they finally reached the last lesson of the day: Potions.

It was a normal lesson. Snape swept round the dungeon, criticising everyone's attempts, except of course the Slytherins. Hermione couldn't help but pay more attention to this fact than usual, and when Snape Vanished Harry's hundredth potion, she found her voice.

"That's it!" She stood, ignoring Harry and Ron who were both gaping at her as if she'd grown another head. "_Professor_ Snape, far be it for me to question a teacher's methods, but this is not on! If you stopped criticising and picking on select students and took the time to actually _explain_ the instructions, perhaps there would be less failed potions and less accidents in your class!"

You could have heard, not a pin drop, but a battleship, so ominous was the silence that preceded her outburst. Even Snape looked shocked. Slowly he moved closer until they were almost nose to nose. Hermione swallowed, knowing she'd crossed the line.

"Detention, Miss Granger," he breathed quietly, although the whole class heard. "See me after class."

Hermione sank slowly back into her seat. At that point, Neville's cauldron exploded. Something of what Hermione had shouted seemed to have sunk in, because after clearing the mess Snape told Neville that the wormwood was supposed to be added _while_ stirring, not before, albeit in an impatient voice.

-----

"You're in for it now, Hermione," Ron muttered as he and the rest of the class gathered their things. "I'm surprised it was you who blew up at him and not Harry, considering how often he's been shouting recently – no offence, mate," he added quickly at Harry's look.

Hermione just nodded.

Snape shot her an odd look as the class cleared. Hermione remained seated, silent, feeling it was a good idea if she didn't try to speak in case she said something that made it worse. Once the class had cleared, the Slytherins gloating and the Gryffindors shooting her looks of sympathy, Snape shut the door and strode back towards his desk.

"You will serve three nights of detention with me, Miss Granger, starting tomorrow, and fifty points shall be taken from Gryffindor -"

"Professor, don't you have remedial potions with Harry on Friday?" Hermione asked sweetly.

Snape hesitated. "Tomorrow, Thursday and Monday then. Be here at half past eight sharp. Now get out of my sight." With that, he bent over the paperwork on his desk.

Hermione stood cautiously and gathered her things. She had definitely got off lightly. If Harry or Ron had blown up at him like that, they would have been in detention for the rest of the month. But now she thought about it, she had always been able to get away with slightly more than them. Maybe Snape only disliked her because she was a Gryffindor, but had a personal grudge against Harry? Whatever the reason, she decided it was better to scram before he changed his mind about going easy on her.

At the door, she paused. "Professor Snape?"

"What?" he snapped.

"You can't deny I have a point."

As Hermione reached for the doorknob, Snape said, so quietly that for a moment she thought she'd imagined it, "Leave the door closed."

She turned. "Why?"

"Miss Granger." There was an unreadable expression on his face, and a spark of something alien in his eyes. "I have taught you Potions for over four years and I know you are intelligent for your age."

"Um, thanks," Hermione muttered, thrown.

"That was a statement of fact, it was not a compliment."

"Oh."

"You should be intelligent enough to realise that my teaching methods do not revolve around my will. Miss Granger, you know my position, and who I work for. You should realise that to keep my position I do not have a lot of option but to play the part. Do you understand me?"

Hermione had to admit, she had never thought about it like that. She, like everyone else, had just thought Snape a bitter hateful git (as Ron would put it). But his words now made her wonder what sort of personality he really hid.

"All the same, Voldemort -"

"_Don't say his name!_"

"Fine, _You-Know-Who_, is not going to accuse you of betrayal because you gave a Gryffindor enough advice to make a passable potion."

"It is easier not to cross the line," Snape said coldly, "if one strays nowhere near it. Now go."

Hermione decided it was time she did.

"Miss Granger?"

"Yes?"

Snape paused again. His expression was again unreadable. "This conversation never happened."

-----

For once that evening, Hermione couldn't concentrate on her work. Her mind kept wandering back to her conversation with Snape. Cross-legged on her bed with a pile of homework spread out in front of her, she had retired to the dormitory to get away from the noise downstairs, where Fred and George had hung an enlarged copy of Harry's interview with Rita and everyone was coming up to them to ask about it. Gritting her teeth, Hermione flipped her books shut in irritation.

If a person was living a façade, then it was almost impossible to tell what they were really like underneath. For all she knew Snape could be a knitting, optimistic animal-lover, but she doubted it. No-one was _that_ good an actor. Yet all the same, there could well be another side to him few had ever seen, and she had a feeling received got the tiniest hint of it this afternoon. He'd seemed almost … human … in his defence of his teaching methods to her.

That was a point. Why was he bothering to defend the way he worked, and to _her_ of all people? Because she was smart? Perhaps, but she had a feeling there was more to it than that, and she was going to find out.

She wondered whether to tell Ron and Harry about her conversation with Snape, but decided against it. She should be acting as though it had never happened.

So why was the blasted man refusing to leave her thoughts?

-----

Severus, meanwhile, was staring into the fire in his study, a glass of Firewhisky in his hand, wondering along similar lines. Why had he said all that to Granger? It wasn't like him. Thank Merlin it had been her – one thing Severus did know about the girl was that she was steadfastly loyal to her friends, which fortunately included the Boy-Who-Lived. Actually, if she hadn't been friends with him, it wouldn't have come out at all because she wouldn't have been involved with the Order and therefore would not know he was a spy.

He was more careful than that. If a Slytherin had overheard, he could be killed. Severus downed the rest of his glass and shuddered. There was another Death Eater meeting soon – he didn't know the day yet, or what they would be doing. He would soon.

Something had unsettled Severus and he wasn't quite sure what.

**TBC …**

AN: It is hard to write the beginnings of a romance between two well-built-up-already characters, especially ones that are supposed to hate each other, so cut me some slack, okay? This is my first time writing an SSHG romance. Or, at least, writing the beginning bit which sets up the characters – I do have two other fics in progress which will eventually be SSHG, but as neither plot revolve completely around the couple and neither fic has got that far in writing, I consider this my first. This fic has been nagging me for a few days and I have built the plot up well – I just need to focus on the first half rather than letting my thoughts stray to the more … exiting? angsty? mysterious? action-y? half. You'll see …  
Just to clarify, I am taking into account HBP (in fact this isn't even AU), but not DH. There may be the odd tiny element but not deliberate.


	2. Contagious

**Summary:** When Hermione got held back in Potions one day she had no idea it would lead to an illicit and dangerous romance, with serious consequences.

**Disclaimer:** Hermione Granger and Severus Snape do not belong to me. Nor do any of the others.

**Author's notes:** I made a little faux pas last chapter – I wrote about how it had been a bad day for Hermione, but actually it was the day Harry's interview was printed and so it should have been a _good_ day. If anyone has any suggestions as to how I can rewrite it while still having her blow up at Severus, I am all ears!

-----

**Chapter Two: Contagious**

_I walk out in silence  
That's when I start to realise  
What you bring to my life  
Damn this guy keeps making me smile  
__**- Avril Lavigne**__  
_  
The next day Hermione was distracted from her musings on the Potions Master by news of a new vision from Harry, and after sternly telling him that he needed to focus more on his Occlumency she succeeded in neither he nor Ron talking to her for the rest of the day. In the next Potions class, she watched Snape carefully for signs of humanity, and grew so absorbed in her lookout she botched a potion for the first time.

He seemed almost gleeful as he Vanished her potion in front of a crowd of onlookers before turning to Harry and declaring his own potion just as worthless. Hermione was inwardly fuming but this time her anger was directed more at Voldemort, for being the reason why so many people were going to fail their Potions OWL. If she could have voiced her thoughts to either Harry or Ron, they would have said she had her priorities screwed up, but really, education was important. If Harry wanted to be an Auror, he had to get an O in his OWL, which was never going to happen short of a miracle, and he was just one of many examples of students who would take on a second choice for their life careers because of the need to keep up Snape's role as a spy.

Of course, losing lives and loved ones was worse, but Hermione couldn't very well march up to Voldemort and ask him politely to stop killing people. She might, however, have a tiny chance of improving Potions for everyone involved – but to do that she would have to get Snape sussed.

_It'll be a challenge_, she told herself. _I wonder how many people have seen his __real__ face, apart from the headmaster. Maybe no-one. I could well be the first._

The thought sent a shiver down her back. Hermione always liked a challenge, and for some reason Snape intrigued her. And if she succeeded, she might very well save people's lives, if Snape and Harry could stop fighting in Occlumency lessons and Harry actually _learnt_ something.

_Whoa, slow down_, she ordered herself. _You're jumping the gun a bit. Figure Snape out first._

Right. _That_ was going to be easy …

Snape seemed no different in the lesson. Several times he caught her watching him and she quickly looked down at her potion, feeling hot around the collar for some reason.

-----

"Good evening, Miss Granger."

Hermione moved warily into the classroom. There was nothing out: no cauldrons to scrub, no nasty dead creatures to gut. She wondered what horror he had in store for her and where it was.

"Good evening, Professor."

Snape snapped the door shut behind her. "You can leave your bag, you won't be needing it."

"What am I going to be doing?" Hermione asked, sliding her bag off her shoulder and placing it on his desk.

He gestured through a doorway which she knew led to his private stores. "You will be helping me with a potion. As it is, another detention student was in here earlier so there are no cauldrons that need scrubbing, and you may as well do something useful."

"Um, right."

Five minutes later, Hermione and Snape were sitting side by side with a bubbling cauldron in between them. The potion, a sleeping draught for Madam Pomfrey's stores, was not too complex, but it required concentration and timing, so there was little opportunity for conversation. It did, however, require cooperation, so instead of silence the occasional request for a certain ingredient was spoken by one or the other. It was actually quite companiable.

As far as detentions went, Hermione had had far worse from her own Head of House, and was rather pleased at this state of events. It was also another thought to add to her _Why Snape May Not Be As Bad As Everyone Thinks_ list – the fact that the cauldrons had already been cleaned seemed a really feeble excuse. If it had been Harry, Snape would have searched out all sorts of disgusting jobs for him to carry out till sunrise, but with her it was different. Maybe it was just because he was old-fashioned and she was a girl – but again she had the feeling there was more to it than that.

_He's like no-one I've ever met_, she thought. _He's like a mystery wrapped in a riddle wrapped in an enigma._

The potion turned out perfect. The bottling was split between them. Finally there was nothing left to do.

"Your detention is over Miss Granger, you are free to go." Snape Scourgified his cauldron and began to pack away the leftover ingredients. Hermione hesitated.

"Professor?"

"Yes?"

It was probably a bad idea, but Hermione couldn't resist. "I think you're losing your touch. That was probably the most enjoyable detention I've ever had."

"Really. Then you will not object to an extra one on Tuesday?" Snape replied, almost sweetly.

"Not at all, Professor."

"Well then, we can make it Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as well."

Hermione shrugged. "Fine by me."

"Good. See you tomorrow. Don't be late."

"Okay. Night, Professor."

As Hermione turned the handle, Snape called her back again.

"As a Potions Master and qualified in Healing, I have the right to prescribe potions to students."

_Why Snape May Not Be As Bad As Everyone Thinks Point Number Three: He never tried to prescribe Harry poison_, Hermione mentally noted.

Snape pushed one of the bottles they'd just filled into her hand. "You look like you haven't had a decent night's sleep in weeks."

Hermione bristled. "At least I don't look like I washed my hair in a vat of chip grease."

"Five points from Gryffindor, Miss Granger, and the dose is one capful before retiring. I'm sure one with an intellect such as yours can manage that."

"Well, we'll see," Hermione replied. "See you tomorrow, Professor."

_Why Snape May Not Be As Bad As Everyone Thinks Point Number Four_, Hermione recited in her head back in her dormitory, _He acted like he cared when he gave me the sleeping draught._

She downed the potion and slid into bed.

-----

The second detention went much like the first, with the exception of the fact that Snape actually seemed to be making an effort to talk to her – and not in an insulting way. He enquired politely if the sleeping potion had worked well (it had) and casually recommended a few variations also available via Madam Pomfrey. Ron and Harry didn't seem to notice Hermione's less-than-depressed mood the morning after, and she didn't draw attention to her thoughts. Her list was slowly growing, and she was keeping a record in the back of her diary – in invisible ink – in case she ever needed to refer to it in Snape's defence.

_Why Snape May Not Be As Bad As Everyone Thinks Point Number Five: No insults during detentions  
Why Snape May Not Be As Bad As Everyone Thinks Point Number Six: He tried to make pleasant conversation during detention_

Harry's week, on the other hand, seemed to be deteriorating. Hermione suppressed sigh every time Snape dished him out a D or make another of his usual comments to him. If she managed to get Snape to show his human side at least a little, there was no reason why, eventually, she could prove to him that Harry was not the arrogant, attention-seeking fame-loving brat Snape seemed to think he was.

It wouldn't be easy. But Hermione was confident.

**TBC …**

**AN:** Please review! I have a mock exam tomorrow and I'd love to see lots of little review alerts in my inbox afterwards, hint hint … Oh, and **no "update soon"s.** I hate them.

For anyone who's reading it, I've also updated **Thicker than Water**.


	3. Open My Eyes

Summary: When Hermione got held back in Potions one day she had no idea it would lead to an illicit and dangerous romance, with serious consequences

**Summary:** When Hermione got held back in Potions one day she had no idea it would lead to an illicit and dangerous romance, with serious consequences.

**Disclaimer:** Hermione Granger and Severus Snape do not belong to me. Nor do any of the others.

--

**Chapter Three: Open My Eyes  
**_  
Open my eyes, let me see you  
And blow this blinding darkness away  
Open my eyes, let me find you  
Give me a sign  
__**- The Rasmus**___

Hermione was halfway to the dungeons Friday evening when she remembered that she didn't have another detention until Monday, and found only mildly surprising the fact that she was disappointed by the thought. Hoping Harry's Occlumency lesson would be a little better this time, she made her way back to Gryffindor Tower lost in thought.

"Hermione, where've you been?"

"What?" She looked up and saw Ron waving her over.

"I forgot I didn't have detention," she explained, dropping her back and sitting down on the arm of Ron's chair.

"Well it's not wonder, seeing how many that slimy git gave you. How many _did_ he give you, anyway?"

"The last one's Monday week."

"Bloody hell. Can you let me curse him next lesson?"

"_No_, Ron."

"Why not?" he moaned.

_Because Professor Snape is a human being and deserves respect as much as you do_, Hermione thought, but instead replying out loud, "Because you'll just land yourself in detention as well and have him take more points off of Gryffindor."

"Hmph. I hate the thought of you all alone with that greasy-haired bat every evening … gives me the creeps."

"I can cope, Ron. I don't need you to get into trouble on my account. Besides, I did ask for it by being rude."

"Yeah, well, he deserves it. Slimy git."

"Honestly Ron, you are about as original as Malfoy in your insults sometimes," Hermione sighed. "Just forget it, I'm fine. I'll see you tomorrow, I think I'll go to bed."

--__

_Sunday___

Dear diary,

I ran into Professor Snape again today. Not literally, although it nearly was. Usually he spends the weekends skulking away in his rooms somewhere, but he was at dinner last night and breakfast this morning. I'm sure he didn't use to join in meals unless it was a mandatory requirement – I've never tried to properly observe him before now but I'm positive about this. Did I mention something to him about being more sociable? I can't really remember.

Anyway, we both finished breakfast around the same time and nearly ran into each other outside the Great Hall. He seemed different, almost jittery. I rather stupidly asked him if anything was wrong and he just brushed me off. I suppose there were several other students around at the time, and they all looked at me as if I was barking for caring. Oh well.  


Monday's social visit – Hermione no longer thought of them as detentions – started in silence. Snape appeared deep in thought and she didn't want to interrupt. It wasn't until she had to break the quiet to ask him for an ingredient that she started conversation.

"Knut for your thoughts, Professor?"

He jumped slightly, as if he'd almost forgotten she was there. "Oh. Yes. Thank you. Sorry."

"It's okay," Hermione assured him, checking the potion. "Everyone gets lost in dreamland now and again. So what had you so occupied that you nearly added daisy roots instead of adder venom?"

Snape raised an eyebrow. "The last time I checked Miss Granger, it was not the business of a student to poke their noses into teachers' private lives and thought processes … unless, of course, their name happens to be Harry Potter," he added sarcastically.

Hermione gave a dramatic sigh. "And here I thought Potions required intelligence."

"What are you saying?" Snape looked at her strangely, confused.

"Well, up until now I was convinced your apparent dislike of Harry was just a requirement of being an undercover Death Eater," she said casually, not looking at Snape. "Seems it's more than a façade after all. Shame. You really should consider getting to know him better, Professor."

Snape firmly took the ladle from her hands. "Between you and me, I would rather face a basilisk."

"I think the whole school knows that Professor; it's hardly between you and me."

"No, actually, the school is under the impression that I would rather eat basilisk venom, take Peeves to the Yule Ball, and be tied up under an Oculus Directus Jinx in front of twenty-four hours of what Muggles call "reality television". Between those options and getting to know your – _friend_ – better, I would tolerate being in his presence. To a certain extent."

"Well," Hermione said cheerfully, "that's a start, I suppose."

For a moment Snape stared at her with his eyebrows raised, then he extinguished the fire beneath the cauldron, removed the ladle and took a deep breath. "All right. What?"

"What?" Hermione answered, startled.

"I have had plenty of experience with mind games Miss Granger, and I do not mean the magical kind either. So tell me. What is with the interrogation?"

"Oh. Nothing."

"Really," Snape said dryly.

"Fine," Hermione snapped. "You are the most mind-boggling man I have ever met and I have made it a challenge to figure out how you think. Satisfied?"

"I could have said the same about you." The tone in his voice implied Snape found the conversation hilarious.

"Me? What's so confusing about me?"

"One minute you're Miss Goody Two-Shoes wouldn't-break-a-rule, the next minute you're shouting at a teacher and playing mind games to work out the psychology of one person – a trait which is more attributed to my House than yours, if I may say so."

"No you may not."

"That _was_ a compliment."

"Oh." Hermione was thrown. "Well, it was a very well-hidden one."

Snape actually chuckled. He had a really nice smile, Hermione thought before she could help herself.

"Well," he said finally, "you say you've challenged yourself to figure out how my mind works? That should take you a nice long time."

Hermione mock-frowned at him. "I'm up for it."

His mouth twitched in what threatened to be another smile. "Determination. Another Slytherin trait." He fully smirked at the look of horror on Hermione's face. "Dear me, did the Hat make a mistake?"

"Is that a compliment or an insult?" Hermione asked innocently.

"That depends on your point of view."

Hermione considered. "Well, determination is a valued trait in most circumstances. Likewise, ambition and deviousness are not necessarily bad traits, it just depends on how they are used … So, I suppose, I can accept your compliments."

Snape fully laughed this time. When it happened, his usually blank black eyes suddenly sparked with life. Hermione had never seen anything like it, and she had certainly never heard him laugh like that before. The next moment she found herself laughing along with him.

"Oh dear," Snape said finally, once they'd both calmed down, "it's a good thing that potion was finished or it would be ruined now. I think we had better call that a night."

Hermione returned to her dormitory deep in thought. Now Snape had made her think about it, she supposed the House of Slytherin wasn't as evil as it seemed. It had its reputation because of Dark wizards like Voldemort, and bullying gits like Malfoy, because they were the ones that stood out amongst the crowd. To be a power-crazy megalomaniac, ambition, determination and deviousness were required, which was probably the reason why those people ended up in the Slytherin House.

_I really feel sorry for the good people in there_, she thought as she climbed the Tower. _It must be really hard working against that prejudice. I expect a lot of people end up going down that road because the other Houses push them down it._

She yawned, breaking her trail of thought, and a picture of Snape's face lit up with laughter emerged in her mind's eye. She smiled to herself.

_Wow. You only have to see that expression to know that Snape's not a bad guy. He seems really nice underneath everything. He must really be lonely keeping up that cover._

As she undressed, Hermione found herself entertaining the thought of suggesting they make the potions sessions a regular occurrence. She found Snape's company both pleasant and entertaining, and was pretty sure he was enjoying them as well.

_And_, she grinned to herself, _now I've seen he's actually got a sense of humour as well. This project is coming along better than I hoped. We should be best buddies within about a fortnight ... That should get an interesting reaction from the boys. Ron would probably say I could do better and it would be the Victor situation all over again ..._

Hold on a minute. What? Victor? Ron? Jealous? Why would Ron be ...

Oh my goodness – Am I getting a crush on _Snape??_

**TBC …**

Chapter Four is on its way! And I have a beta now, who will soon be going over previous chapters. Thanks Merrin!


End file.
